India begins countdown to launch 31 satellites

Rupali Pruthi

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on 11 January 2018 began the 28-hour countdown to launch 31 satellite in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. It will be the first space mission of India in 2018.

Among these 31 satellites, three will be of India and 28 of six other countries. These satellites will be launched onboard the PSLV-C40 rocket.

This launch comes four months after the rocket failed to deliver the India's eighth navigation satellite in the earth's lower orbit on 31 August 2017. The PSLV-C39 was unsuccessful as the heat shield failed to separate. Key Highlights • The Indian satellites are 710 kg Cartosat-2 series for earth observation, a 100 kg micro satellite and a 5 kg nano satellite.

• As an observational satellite, Cartosat will beam high-quality images for cartographic, urban and rural applications, coastal land use and utility management.

• The micro satellite will be India's 100th satellite in space.

• The 28 other satellites are from Canada, Finland, France, South Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States.

• The total weight of all 31 satellites is 1323 kg. The entire launch of satellites is expected to happen over a period of 2 hours and 21 seconds.

• The 28 international customer satellites will be launched as part of the commercial arrangements between ISRO and its commercial arm 'Antrix Corporation Ltd'. Other Indian Space Missions of 2018• India plans to have at least one rocket launch every month this year.

• ISRO will also be launching its second lunar mission Chandrayaan-2 to the Moon, with an orbiter, lander and rover for the first time.

• Advanced communication satellites GSAT-6A and GSAT-29 will also be deployed 36000 km above earth in geosynchronous orbit through the future launches.

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